Continuing to thin on Propecia after 4 months. Continue?

[domenicohegglin]

I'm 18. I have crown and mid-anterior scalp thinning (hairline is fine). Since taking Propecia, it seems like my hair has continued to thin - perhaps even at an increased rate. Should I stick with it? If so, when will I see an arresting of hair loss? The reason I ask is because on the Propecia website, it states that it takes '3 months to slow'.

 

[Exodus2011]

stay the fudge on it

you should be on it at least for 8 months i think

 

[thissucksbadly]

I'm in the same situation mate. Feels like my hair has thinned alot since I started finasteride 4 months ago. I'm going to stay on it until about a year and if it hasn't improved then I'll call it a day. I've today added minoxidil to my regemin to see if that might help.

It sucks man when the thing you want to help your hair seems to make it worse.

 

[Boomer01]

Definitely stay on it. You've gone this far, so ride it out for at least a year. I had increased shedding for around 5 months, but it slowed down dramatically after that.

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

stay the fudge on it

you should be on it at least for 8 months i think

Make it 12 at least, better 18-24.n

 

[dinosaur_sr]

Stay on it - I've been on it since December last year and I felt like mine got a little thinner on top and is just now starting to get a little thicker. You'll also regret it if you quit now, whereas if you keep going for a year or two at least you'll know it didn't work for you.

 

[resu]

Thin how? Density or the hair shafts continue to miniaturize?

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

Quite reassuring again to hear how long finasteride takes to bloody work. I've just passed the month 9 mark and my hair still as thin as it was after the massive shed...

Extremely long in some cases. Someone posted a photo of this Japanese finasteride study in my story, in some cases drastic results only appeared in year three! It takes many hair cycles in some cases. And after a cycle they rest about 3 months. I am now in month 15 and only now have I really stopped shedding!! Seriously, never in the months before have I ever stopped to shed like that. I'm so excited. And still I have at no point lost a lot of density even though I used to shed 120-150 or more a day for a long long period. I now have no doubt that for the time being my hairloss has stopped and there were so many times where I thought I would never be able to say that. Wanted to change my regimen a thousand times. Glad I didn't.

 

[craig990]

anyone else's head continue to itch after a while on it? not sure, but my itching may have increased. then again, I cant really compare because I cant remember if it was worse than this pre finasteride.

 

[thissucksbadly]

anyone else's head continue to itch after a while on it? not sure, but my itching may have increased. then again, I cant really compare because I cant remember if it was worse than this pre finasteride.

My head continues to itch like a b**ch after 4 months on it.

 

[craig990]

The first thing I noticed with finasteride was the itch going. Seems to have completely gone - most likely it is the finasteride, as Nizoral didn't stop the itch in the few weeks I used that alone before getting finasteride. In retrospect, I had an itch going back several years, way before I noticed that I had male pattern baldness.

BTW WillNotLetItHappen, I started to shed again mid way through August, as in shedding like I had back in January after starting finasteride, but it's stopped. At least for now.

How long did it take to get of the itch? I have been on finasteride for just over 3 months and the shedding and itch is still present.

- - - Updated - - -

My head continues to itch like a b**ch after 4 months on it.

Do you feel that its working though? Ive been on it just over 3 months and have noticed no improvement.

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

to willnotletithappen: can you post that japanese study that said drastic results came in year 3?

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1346-8138.2011.01378.x/full

or see my story towards the end.

- - - Updated - - -

BTW WillNotLetItHappen, I started to shed again mid way through August, as in shedding like I had back in January after starting finasteride, but it's stopped. At least for now.

I really suspect shedding isn't a problem in most cases. 90% of men keep their hair or improve on finasteride (according to the 5 year study).

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

I posted this recently in my story:

I will post an update in a few days when my 14th month is completed. I have read a few interesting things. One is the well known 5y finasteride study. It is worth reading.
http://www.jle.com/fr/revues/medecin.../FE/article.md
It contains many things that are often said on these forums, but it is also often hard to overlook them:

1) ".....peak efficacy was observed at one to two years of treatment with finasteride." To me it seems that the second year is also more interesting in my case, I'm seeing my hair change for real now. It really takes a long time, but this looks promising. 90% of men in this study had success with finasteride, albeit to a different extent. While on Finasteride we should just enjoy life and forget baldness. The key is to jump on DHT-altering treatments as soon as you start losing it because you can keep what you have for at least a prolonged time.

2) This excerpt is a good explanation why I seem to be seeing so much shedding:
"In that study, initiation of finasteride treatment was shown to increase the number of anagen-phase hairs and to increase the anagen to telogen ratio, consistent with normalization of the growth cycles of previously miniaturized hairs due to the release of hair follicles from the inhibitory effects of DHT [26]. Consistent with these results, finasteride treatment was also shown to increase the growth rate and/or thickness of hairs, based on analysis of serial hair weight measurements [27]. Because these beneficial changes in the hair growth cycle are dependent on when therapy with finasteride is initiated and occur rapidly, the affected hairs are driven to cycle in a synchronous manner. If these hairs have somewhat similar anagen phase durations, they would enter telogen phase as the anagen (and catagen) phase ended, followed by subsequent shedding, in a partially synchronized fashion. This would be expected to produce a gradual decline from peak hair count after a period of time equal to the average anagen phase duration. Eventually, as subsequent growth cycles recurred, these hairs would be expected to become increasingly independent, thereby losing their synchronous character as their growth cycles further normalized over time, leading to a sustained increase in hair count at a plateau above baseline, as suggested by the 5-year data presented here."
I'm now convinced that the 100 hairs a day-rule does not apply to people on Finasteride, at least not initially before the growth cycle of the animated hairs becomes independent.

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

willnotletithappen: can you do me a favour and just post the sentence about the finasteride and drastic results in the 3rd year. I can't seem to find in the study, adn I looked at your story and can't find it. having one of those blonde moments LOL. I would really appreciate it.

thanks

It is just one example. It is the photo on the top of page 15 in my story. The study does not state that this is to be expected for everyone. But it goes to show that you should give it enough time in any case...

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

thanks! its still inspiring and gives hope

I'm glad. Hang in there bro.
In case you don't know that yet:
http://www.bernsteinmedical.com/medical-treatment/patient-photos/

I honestly think that SO MANY people stop finasteride way too early before they see the full benefit. If I had stopped at 1 yr I would have had some small success and was still shedding. Now finally at month 15 things get really better and I shed so little hair I run around with a smile all day.
good luck!

 

[domenicohegglin]

I'm still thinning - now my mid scalp is thinning drastically too. I want to stay optimistic but it's hard.

The hairs themselves are miniaturizing - not shedding.

 

[TravisB]

Well without Finasteride you would go bald either way, so I think continuing finasteride won't hurt, perhaps results will eventually come after some time

 

[nagan]

Iv been doing a low dose of 0.25 finasteride for 2 years now... big improvement in hair... the places i was balding are now grown and hair is more on the top and sides.

 

[kthxbi]

definitely stick with it. i started at about the same age as you - started to see some really nice results at around 6 months.

 

[abcdefg]

Okay but some people have success on it and a minority does not. Also the upregulation part of it is not well studied I would be curious to see if a few men with no male pattern baldness took it and then stopped would it have any bad effect on their hair? I think propecia in rare cases could make your hair loss worse then if you never took it even though the studies have not shown that yet